The use of radioactive materials in nuclear medicine for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes is known. In the case of diagnostic medicine, radioactive material may be used to track blood flow for purposes of detecting obstructions or the like. In this case the radioactive material (e.g., a tracer) may be injected into a vein of the arm or leg of a person.
A scintillation camera may be used to collect images of the person following the injection. In this case, the gamma rays of the tracer interact with a detector of the camera to create images of the person.
A series of images are collected as the tracer perfuses through the person. Since the tracer diffuses through the blood of the person, the veins or arteries with greater blood flow produce a greater signature from the tracer.
Alternatively, radioactive material may be coupled at a molecular level with a biolocalization agent. In this case, the biolocalization agent may concentrate the radioactive material at some specific location (e.g., the site of a tumor).
Key to the use of radioactive materials in nuclear medicine is the creation of nuclear materials with a relatively short half life (e.g., 2-72 hours). In the case of the use of the radioactive materials with a biolocalization agent or for imaging, the short half life causes the radioactivity to decay rapidly in such as way as to reduce exposure of the person to radiation.
While the use of radioactive materials in nuclear medicine is extremely useful, the handling of such materials can be difficult. Materials with short half lives may require complex separation procedures to isolate the desired material from other materials. Once separated, the desired material must be easily accessible for injection into the patient. Accordingly, a need exists for better methods of handling such materials.